What You Should Know About Your Teeth Before the Holidays

From frosted cutout cookies, candy canes and gingerbread men to holiday fudge, fruitcake and more, the typical person will consume an extensive range of sweet treats throughout the holiday season. This is a season of merriment, spending time with friends at parties, and even baking treats with the family on the weekends. The last thing you want is to impede your enjoyment of the holidays by limiting your sugar consumption, but the reality is that sugary treats and acidic foods can have a significant and damaging effect on your dental health. By understanding more about how tooth decay and dental plaque develop, you may be able to adjust your preventive dentistry habits throughout the season.

Understanding Cavity Development

Your mouth maintains a minimal amount of oral microbiome bacteria at all times, and this is normal. In most cases, the presence of this bacteria is kept in check through regular proper dental hygiene routine and brushing and professional flossing techniques as well as by your body’s own natural defences. However, this bacteria feeds on sugar. When you consume many sweet treats throughout the holiday season, the bacteria may multiply at a rate that is too fast for your natural defences to keep up with. Acids produced by the Streptococcus mutans bacteria dissolve the tooth enamel, causing dental caries. Severe cavities can cause tooth sensitivity, the need for tooth restoration, or even the complete loss of tooth structure.

Natural Protection Against Tooth Decay

Your body maintains natural defences against dental caries, and this helps to keep the effects of bacteria in your mouth at a reasonable or manageable level. The calcium phosphate and other minerals in your salivary glands help to rebuild the tooth enamel through the remineralization process. However, this protective process for your dental health is not fully effective when you substantially increase your sugar consumption during the holidays. There is simply more dental plaque in your mouth than your body can naturally manage.

Effective Methods for Cavity Prevention

While the pH balance of your oral cavity helps prevent cavities, you need to maintain proper preventive dentistry practices to care for your teeth. Dental hygiene experts recommend brushing twice per day and flossing once per day. However, if you increase your intake of sugary foods and holiday desserts, it is wise to brush more frequently. By following proper dental care routines, you can remove more of the sugary elements from your mouth that may otherwise allow the enamel-eroding bacteria to thrive.

The last thing you may want to worry about over the holidays is the possibility of tooth decay developing. Cavities can cause tooth sensitivity, and they can lead to significant decay or tooth loss. In addition, dental restoration can be expensive to treat without proper dental insurance. However, you can see that the development of dental caries during this time of year is a very real possibility. Now that you understand how your increased consumption of sweet treats could affect your periodontal health, you can take additional steps throughout the season to better care for your complete oral health.

If you need to schedule a professional dental check-up appointment after your holidays or have any questions feel free to contact Lewis Estates Dental Centre, we would love to hear from you.